Classical Music Stars at Zabeel Theatre, Dubai

On Friday 23rd February, the 2024 InClassica International Music Festival, organized by SAMIT Event Group, will come to a close with a special concert at the Zabeel Theatre in Dubai’s 5-star Jumeirah Zabeel Saray Hotel. Featuring the acclaimed Armenian State Symphony Orchestra (ASSO), which will be led by their Founder, Artistic Director, and Principal Conductor, Sergey Smbatyan, the evening will also showcase the talents of three renowned soloists, namely French pianist Nikita Mndoyants, First Prize winner of the 2016 Cleveland International Piano Competition, and 2007 Paderewski International Piano Competition; US violist David Aaron Carpenter, First Prize Winner of the Walter E. Naumburg Viola Competition, and recipient of the 2011 Leonard Bernstein Award and 2010 Avery Fisher Career Grant; and Belgian violinist Marc Bouchkov, First prize winner of the Montreal International Violin Competition, silver medallist of the Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition and recipient of the London Music Masters Award and Kulturstiftung Dortmund music prize.  

Mndoyants and the ASSO will open proceedings, presenting a performance of the Suite for piano and orchestra No. 2, ‘From My Bookshelf’. Initially written by Composer-in-Residence Alexey Shor, the eight-movement work that is inspired by a variety of seminal literary classics was later arranged by the distinguished pianist, conductor, and composer, Mikhail Pletnev, and it is this version that will be performed tonight. Next, Bouchkov and Carpenter will take to the stage to interpret Shor’s Concerto for Violin and Viola, a contemporary offering that displays the mellifluous lyricism and focus on tonality that Shor has become known and loved for.